


White Flags

by NeverComingHome



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-05
Updated: 2017-05-05
Packaged: 2018-10-28 05:10:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10824456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeverComingHome/pseuds/NeverComingHome
Summary: Vague spoilers for season three, but technically could work as an AU.Neither of them can say no to each other and sometimes the solution is the problem.





	1. Harry

 

Sometimes Harry wondered if Cisco would still love him if Eobard had chosen someone else’s life to ruin. He mentally removed all the strings (neither of them would be who they were if not for the impact the people in their life had on them and so on and so forth) until he whittled the scenario down to one: Cisco still Cisco, but his mentor had another face. Do they still end up together?

Jesse moved to Earth and Harry managed to go a few weeks, a month tops, without checking in before his worry set in. It always seemed to be Cisco who was hanging around the lab to greet him upon his arrival.

“Don’t you have your own home?” He asked one time, dryly.

“Don’t you have your own Earth?”

“Touche, my friend.”

Jesse was usually there soon enough with bells on to gush about her latest accomplishments, grilling him on any of the personal and professional developments of her friends and enemies-generally serving as a solid reminder that regardless of his faults he’d managed to bring someone like her into the world so that was worth something. It was right around the time he’d nestled into the ‘my daughter is safe and happy’ glow that Wally would text and Jesse would go a little pink before promising that no big deal, but she had to be somewhere ten seconds ago, but she’d be back in no time.

Cisco, waiting in the wings (not that he’d ever admit it), would use the opportunity to suggest they do some catching up as well. Harry never developed emotional attachments or any sort of deep investments into his coworkers so working with Cisco continued to be a pleasant surprise. Not only was the work dynamic, frustrating in the best ways and time consuming, but he also got to interlace it with edge less bickering; long tangents about why classic science fiction novels were better than classic science fiction mixed media because their focus was on technology rather than society constructs. Cisco would then loudly tell him that the creator of smart phones, as they currently exist, specifically said they were aiming to recreate technology they saw in the original series of Star Trek. Before Harry could crow “cite your sources” the tests would come back or Jesse would be calling him away for dinner.

Those were the kind of interactions that defined them. There was no fatherly overtones or couching his critique of Cisco’s work with compliments. Despite the age difference they were peers and only an idiot wouldn’t fall for a handsome, morally centered scientist with a nerdy though flawless sense of humor. This was what Harry told himself when he stood in front of the vortex and debated going back to his own Earth.

* * *

 

They fell in love a little bit every time he visited and eventually those bits added up to an unspoken truth they poked once in a while for fun. One night they were at a club watching Barry get sustainably drunk for the first time since he became the Flash (he’d said “I love you” to the bottle Caitlin gave him when they arrived more times than he’d said it to Iris thus far) and pretending to like the music playing because they have no other options.

“You should dance. Bust a move as the kids call it.”

“I’ve got news for you,” Cisco laughed as their shoulders brushed, “no kids call it that.”

“Oh, no, you can’t fool me. I am an excellent judge of character and I know for a fact you want to dance right now so what are you doing here with me?”

Cisco could’ve said something sarcastic, shrugged, or laughed again but he didn’t. He stared at Harry until Harry looked away from the dance floor to stare back at him and after a beat they both looked away. Harry put on his coat, knowing Cisco would follow him out back where only a couple of girls in over-sized coats were sharing a cigarette. Cisco blew hot air onto his warm hands for something to do then told Harry that he only wanted to kiss him if he promised not to regret it later.

“Unrequited love is bullshit. Aint nobody got time for that.”

“Yes, I agree.”

“Yeah?” Harry moved closer.

“Yeah.”

They kissed in a dimly lit alley that smelled of loose tobacco and exhaust while Barry cheered, “I’m drunk!” in the background. It felt about right.

* * *

 

Sometime before everyone found out, but after Barry already knew, Cisco told Harry that he’d never had sex.

“With a man?”

“Ever.”

Harry had stayed the night, crashed really after a particularly exhausting fight with a metahuman that could manipulate anything running on electricity thereby limiting their arsenal to the speedster gang and crossed fingers. They both had been too tired to do anything more than shower and fall into bed with their clothes on.

“Just in case next time you were expecting something.”

He sat down on the bed beside Cisco. “I don’t expect anything from you.”

“Great,” the other deadpanned.

“I mean I don’t want you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with. When you’re ready I’ll be ready.”

Cisco’s body went from washboard straight to relaxed, but his eyes remained narrowed. “If anyone asks I’ve rocked your world every night. Rodeo style.”

Harry laughed and kissed him. “I can’t promise to use those words, but I’ll get the point across should inquiring minds wish to know.”

* * *

 

In a perfect world they’d carry on like that. Once a month fighting crime and falling asleep in lab chairs with feet in each other's laps and work on the table or in bed, tangling together in an attempt to find a position that didn’t end with Cisco’s hair in Harry’s mouth come morning. Eventually Harry would’ve cut the bull and stopped going back to Earth 2 at all. They could’ve been happy.

* * *

 

Barry dragged Eobard from the future to deal with the problems he created in messing with the timeline. Cisco abruptly decided he needs to do something somewhere only to show up an hour later on the feed outside Eobard’s cell. Harry stepped away from the drawing board to watch. The pair were too quiet to hear at first, trading barbs back and forth until Eobard rushed forward and slammed his fist on the glass.

“Don’t you say that. My feud with Barry had nothing to do with you.”

“He’s my best friend.”

“What kind of best friend lets your brother die?”

“What kind of father figure rips out your heart?”

Ignoring it Eobard hit his chest. “I came back for you. Feel the multiverse, find the one where Barry didn’t stop me and see for yourself. I did what I had to do in the moment, but I never once considered it to be permanent. In my timeline you forgave me, we became family.” He moved as much against the barrier as it would allow, placing his hand up for Cisco to overlap tentatively with his own. “We can still be family, Cisco.”

“No...”

“I promise. If you let. Me. Out.”

Cisco's face crumbled and he all but slammed the panel so that the shutters came roaring down, drowning out Eobard’s swears to kill them all. Cisco sunk to his knees with his eyes shut and vanished into a spiraling blue portal.

* * *

 

There was no way to locate where or when Cisco was, but after watching the video it wasn’t hard to guess. They all took up shifts in the most likely places he would turn up, but Harry and Barry both ended the night at Cisco’s apartment. Harry always slept on the couch, but two days after Cisco disappeared he woke up half clothed in Cisco’s bed with the man himself kissing down his stomach. His hair was a wreck, there was a small bruise on his cheek and even with only moonlight Harry could tell he’d been crying.

“Look at me.” Cisco lifted his head, but his gaze remained askew. “What did you see?”

“So a guy can't have sex with his boyfriend without an interrogation.”

“Not when said guy has been missing for two days straight. Tell me what happened, I can fix it.”

“I saw us,” Cisco nipped softly down his chest, teasing all the parts of Harry that made him shiver every time, “a timeline where we got married and lived happily ever after.”

There was something missing from the story and Harry could've gotten it if he was stronger, if it hadn't been years since he’d been touched like this and he'd never spent the night lying next to Cisco thinking of how easy it would be to wake him up and coax him into doing exactly what he was currently doing. It was everything he needed in ways he didn’t want. He felt like he did when he was told there was a chance the accelerator could explode and the right thing was staring him in the face, but he couldn't refuse himself. Just like he should've canceled the project right then he should've pushed Cisco away and forced the conversation to its conclusion.

“Can I?” Cisco was rubbing him, mouth poised at Harry’s waist. “Please?”

Harry’s head fell back onto the pillow and Cisco took it as a yes.


	2. Cisco

 

Cisco didn’t know if he’d still love Harry as much as he did if he’d never met Eobard. In his head he couldn’t detach the ‘what if’ from the ‘what was’ because it was the basis of his powers. Everything happened somewhere and he felt all of it whether he wanted to or not. Events tugged at his psyche like nudges to his side, but ten nudges happening simultaneously felt more like one unignorable punch.

A month after the first time he and Harry kissed Iris, Barry and Caitlin accosted him from his favorite booth in Jitters.

“We picked up a girl!” Iris bursts as soon as they spot him and Cisco’s face tore into a grin.

“I knew this day would come. The word is polyamory and Barry you might want to take a seat for this one.”

Caitlin punched his shoulder and took the seat across from him. “Not for them, for you. Iris was covering that con we couldn’t get tickets to because of swamp man.”

“She’s so cute and sweet.”

Caitlin cleared her throat. “And smart, that’s important too. She was at the con for a battle bots competition and hers swept it.”

Cisco took a long sip of his coffee and put the books he was reading into his messenger. “Sooo, super touched that after three years you’ve all taken a sudden interest in my love life or lack thereof, but I can get my own dates.”

Caitlin raised an eyebrow, “All the more reason to listen to us. If I didn’t think you had a solid chance with this girl I wouldn’t even bother.”

“Sorry, girls and guy,” Barry waved balefully, “I’m just not up for it today. Raincheck.”

In retrospect that was as red a flag as there could be, but when Caitlin had a bout of Killer Frost he thought it would get swept under the rug and he could figure out just why he wasn’t interested in going on dates with cute, smart girls anymore.

* * *

 

Cisco, HR and Barry were playing mario kart while Caitlin rooted for each of them in turn when Harry showed up at the door. He’d come to surprise Jesse, but she had taken the weekend off with Wally and the Wests to visit Joe’s extended family. Cisco tossed his controller to Caitlin who had insisted she was terrible to get out of playing, but was now pulling Cisco from third place to first. Harry’s eyes flicked over the group then Cisco.

“Could we talk about that project we were working on last time?”

“Oh, yeah, with Barry’s suit. Bro?”

“Sup?”

“Harry and I need to work on your suit.”

Barry sped them to the lab and they waited only a moment before coming together for a kiss. Their last kiss had been the first one and five weeks was too long to wait a second more. Cisco could feel all the hairs on his arm, every muscle in the arms wrapped around Harry who remained stone faced, concentrated, like he was putting all of himself into it. He got Cisco up against a wall and it was then that his self preservation instincts kicked in. It was too fast and there was too much to talk about, but he couldn’t find the words or put together coherent sentences.

“Miss me?” He finally said rhetorically, but at least it was something.

“Not one bit. You’re a thorn in my side, Ramon, I can’t focus when you’re not around and now that I’m here you’re still distracting me.”

Before Cisco could retort Barry sped in to ask what it was they were doing to his suit again. He crashed straight into the desk, fixed it then sped out again, the whole ordeal lasting only long enough for Harry to push away from Cisco.

* * *

 

It made it easier in some ways for Barry to know. It meant that Harry could spend time at the apartment and having a speedster as look out was the best sort of early warning system. It made it harder in others like when Barry asked if it wasn’t a little strange being with someone who had the face of a guy as complicated as Eobard was. Cisco edged because it was a subject he’d been avoiding in his own head.

EoWells was the family Cisco had always wanted. He told him his work would change the world, he watched old movies with him on Saturday nights and sometimes when they were delirious from lack of sleep he would grab Cisco by the back of the neck, press their foreheads together and whisper that they were made for each other.

Vibe one: EoWells kissing Cisco’s forehead after a victory.

Vibe two: Harry bumping Cisco’s fist then tugging him into a closet to kiss him after a victory.

Vibe one: EoWells telling him he loved him before killing him.

Vibe three: Harrison Wells from Earth 5 shooting Reverb from Earth 17.

Vibe one: EoWells telling Cisco he was irreplaceable.

Vibe two: Cisco telling Harry he was irreplaceable.

Somewhere Harrison Wells kissing Cisco before dying. Some of it never happened, but all of it felt real and sometimes when he kissed Harry he didn’t know if he was seeing their future or their doppelganger’s present.

* * *

 

When Eobard told him to visit one of the alternate timelines Cisco thought it would be something akin to closure. He did what he was told, felt the worlds gliding over him until he heard a familiar voice. It was Harry. They were camping in the woods with Jesse and Wally and the knowledge came to him. After killing Cisco and getting away with changing the timeline Eobard had made a few other adjustments then went back to the future to gather enough speed force to travel in time again, this time choosing another face. There was no car crash, but to ensure Cisco would meet the man he would marry Eobard killed Harry’s wife by making it seem like it was his work that caused her death. Harry became a professor where he met Cisco and eventually fell in love with him.

Cisco hopped from reality to reality, but they all followed the same trend. As soon as he was able to travel back into the future Eobard found another way to kill Flash while ensuring Cisco ended up alive and happy. It wasn’t fair for someone so twisted to have a Cisco shaped soft spot. People were nuanced and full of gray areas not time traveling super villains.

* * *

 

He tumbled out of the vortex and directly into Eobard’s cell.

 “What’s the point? What are you trying to prove?”

“Nothing. What did you once tell me- ‘nobody belongs anywhere’.”

“That was from a show.”

“It’s the truth. Without me you become Reverb, loveless and evil. In every timeline that you’re with Harrison Wells you find happiness. It isn’t supposed to happen, the universe wants you to become Reverb, but it was my gift to you for helping me kill Barry and end the Flash.”

Cisco punched him and when Eobard got up he punched him again, knowing he wasn’t hurting him and that he’d heal within seconds. He punched him because he was right and because the thing he wanted most in the world, to forget the past and move on with Harry, was exactly what Eobard wanted. The only selfless bone in his body was still the cruelest.

* * *

 

Harry wasn’t Eobard. Unlike EoWells the particle accelerator’s overload had made him doubt his own judgment, created a hesitance that softened his edges. Harry had a daughter that was a living, reckless soft spot so he was harder and blunter than Eobard. He was a dick, but underneath that was loyalty and an undercurrent of fondness that was worth more than Eobard who used his affection like a weapon.

When Cisco looked at him, slumbering peacefully on his bed, he realized that the solution to getting over Wells was to stop waiting for something to change and change it himself.

_I saw us_

He looked at Harry and saw Harry. He touched him and vibed the ghost of a wedding ring on his finger as Harry entered him on a blanket while the sun rose behind them.

_I love you_

“-can I? Please?” Harry groaned (vibe seven from arousal. Vibe two from frustration) and let his head fall back onto the pillow.

Cisco took it as a yes.


End file.
